Division of Brazil into two captaincies-general in 1608, to be united again soon afterwards and again subsequently divided, was part of the experiments made by the European home governments, apparently with the sincere wish to develop the country; it was supposed that a region so vast could not be governed by one man, but as a matter of fact the occupied territory was along the seaboard on the whole, and communication by sea was fairly speedy; from 1549 onwards, when the first Captain-General was appointed, the mother country bought up when convenient the strips of land belonging to the heirs of the _donatarios_; some new captaincies were also added from time to time, as that of Grão Pará in 1616, Minas Geraes, Matto Grosso and Goyaz after the discovery of gold and diamonds, and an independent State of Maranhão, governed separately from the rest of Brazil was also created in 1621, thus adding to the governmental confusion in spite of good intentions. Decentralization was increased by the lack of commercial exchange between the different regions, and no successful effort improved this fault until the notable Marquis de Pombal took matters in hand in a statesmanlike manner in the latter half of the eighteenth century, buying the capitanias which were yet in private hands, creating Brazil a viceroyalty and Rio the viceregal capital. But before that date much water had flowed under Brazilian bridges. It is not the purpose of this book to give in detail the history of Brazil, but to show the chief events and their effect upon development. Following the creation of the capitania system and its series of coastal settlements came the penetration of the southern interior by the Jesuits in their “reductions,” and the scattering of these centres of Indian population at the hands of the bandeirantes; the next happening of extreme importance for Brazil was the seizure of different parts of the coast by the Dutch and French, with their stimulating effect upon Portuguese colonization; it was after this that the gold rush to the interior of Minas, Goyaz and Matto Grosso populated and opened up the sertão in tiny patches, but at the same time half denuded the coast of its settlers and injured the agricultural production of the country, the prosperity of which was almost entirely owing to the introduction of negro slaves, another great factor in Brazilian progress.